South of the Equator
by 411charlee
Summary: A young teacher from Boston will do anything in her power to ensure that her upliftment project goes ahead, when the ground of a small farm school is threatened to be sold to a buyer who has no interest in her project. Oliver and Felicity's paths cross 9000 miles from home, when their worlds come crashing in the heart of Southern Africa.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

He is tired and grumpy. The flight had been delayed and to make matters worse the flight attendant spilt coffee all over him during their in flight service. If this wasn't a sign then he didn't know what was, he is just happy to be home again.

Once he disembarks and collects his check in luggage he finally muscles up enough courage to switch on his phone. Almost immediately his phone starts beeping with all the alerts of missed calls and text messages and he sighs. Particularly because he has to listen to numerous voice messages from the last person on earth he wants to hear from right now….Laurel.

 _'_ _Hi Oliver, it's Laurel. Please come and pick up your car.'_

 _'_ _Me again, your car is leaving oil stains on my garage floor, come and pick up your car.'_

 _'_ _I know you don't want to talk to me, but ignoring me is not really going to make this go away. Just come and pick up your damn car!'_

 _'_ _The sooner you pick up your car the sooner we can both move on and you will see that this was the best decision for both of us.'_

"Yeah right, the best decision for you maybe. You left me at the altar….for my best friend! How is that the best decision?" he mumbles to himself and deletes all the messages from her while he hails a cab to head to his ex fiancé's house.

He tries to focus on responding to some e-mails when his phone rings. At least it is his partner and colleague John Diggle. He slides the answer button but doesn't say a word.

 _"_ _At least you're finally answering my calls."_

"Yeah well what did you expect, I didn't want to speak to anyone."

 _"_ _How are you doing man? I know it can't be easy with Laurel leaving you at the altar and all."_

"Look Dig, I know that you're trying to be a good friend but I've just got back from my honeymoon in Cancun, alone. I am not in the mood to talk about it…in fact let's never talk about it again. That fine with you?"

 _"_ _Whatever makes you happy and gets you to a point where you can concentrate on our new project. You did get my e-mail about South Africa right?"_

"Yes I was looking at it when you phoned. How about you give me the info over the phone, it will save me some reading time."

 _"_ _It's a documentary about poverty, alcohol abuse and things revolving around that in a small country town in the Karoo called Oudtshoorn."_

"Well I'm happy with small town, as long as we never do anything in Afghanistan again. Riding those camels nearly killed me, never ever again!"

Diggle laughs as he recalls their time in the desert and the camels. It wasn't funny then, but it's hilarious right now.

 _"_ _I think it's a good distraction for you right now, getting out of the country and doing something that doesn't remind you of Laurel and everything else that happened. Maybe I can try and set you up with one of the natives while we're there?"_

"I'd rather marry one of those camels from Afghanistan before I get into another relationship thank you. I will meet you at the airport tomorrow afternoon, but first I need to go and pick up my car from Laurel."

He pays the cab driver and stares at the entrance of what was supposed to be **_their_** home. He becomes aware of a stinging pain in his chest. He's angry but that doesn't mean the love just flies out the door. He decides to concentrate on the now, and right now he has to get his car and get the hell away from this place.

He presses the button on the remote control and the garage door opens. He is greeted by his beautiful black Jeep waiting for him. He takes out his car keys from his bag and starts packing his luggage into the car, along with a few boxes Laurel left next to his car. He hopes he manages to disappear before they realise he's there.

He walks around the car and he frowns. Oil leak? What oil leak? This car is brand new. This woman is delusional! Why did he ever think it could work between them?

He presses the start button of the car, but for some or other reason his car won't start. He repeats the action about three times more, but nothing happens. Finally he sighs and grips the steering wheel.

"Look, I know you're angry I left you here, and I don't even want to think about what you witnessed in this garage, but please, I'm sorry okay, I'm so incredibly sorry. Will you please start so we can get out of here?"

He presses the start button again and the car starts.

"That's it baby. I knew you couldn't stay mad at me for too long."

He reverses out of the garage and the door starts to close. He throws his keys and remote underneath the door before it's almost completely shut and then with a big smile on his face drives away, hopefully putting enough space between him and the life he almost had.

The flight to South Africa was exhausting and the jetlag hit them harder than they expected. Luckily Dig was sensible enough to make arrangements at a hotel first before they had to take another flight from Johannesburg airport to a small airport in George and then drive an hour before their destination in Oudtshoorn.

Both him and Diggle pick up their rental cars at the small airport and he wonders what Brian, one of his employees, has against him. The car registered under his name is an old rusted Land Rover, which sounds like it has definitely had better days.

Once they reach their destination at a farm house on the outskirts of Oudtshoorn he settles into his room and goes over Dig's itinerary for the next day. He realises there's not enough gas in the truck for the distance they will be travelling and decides to be vigilant and take care of everything before the actual work starts tomorrow.

He connects his GPS and it takes him directly to the nearest gas station. It's a lot different here than in the States. A native man comes running towards him as soon as he pulls up next to the gas pump to assist.

Once he's given the instruction to fill the truck up he hears a woman call for help. It sounds like it's coming from the inside of the gas station building and decides to ignore it at first. However, when the screaming continues he chooses to investigate.

He follows the woman's voice and finds a young blonde woman holding her phone outside the small bathroom window on the side of the gas station building.

"Hi there." he greets as politely as possible. "Can I help you?"

"I'm trying to find signal on my phone to call someone for help but apparently a screaming woman is not so much of a priority around these parts as you would think." she answers clearly frustrated by her situation.

He immediately picks up that her accent is definitely not local. It sounds American but he decides not to put that on the list of topics right now.

"Are you stuck?" he asks innocently.

"Actually no, I really love the décor inside, that's why I'd rather stand at the window screaming for help and finding a signal." she answers sarcastically and it immediately stirs some unresolved feelings about the fairer sex inside of him.

"Well in that case I'll leave you to your browsing then." he answers with no remorse and turns around to leave her right there. If that's her attitude then she can stay right where she is.

"No no, please I'm sorry. Yes I'm stuck and I could really use your help."

He nods and moves around the building to the door of the bathroom. He tries the handle of the door and pushes but it won't budge. He decides to try and kick down the door.

"Stand back, I'm going to kick down the door." he instructs.

He moves a back a bit to give him some space for momentum and kicks, but the door doesn't shift one bit.

"What happened to ' _stand back I'm going to kick down the door_ '." she remarks from the inside.

"Look miss, if you want my help then you will have to go through the window."

"Fine." she answers with an exasperated sigh and starts handing him all her belongings; her handbag, phone, satin scarf and shoes, which he then places on what seems to be tractor tyres next to him.

She reaches her arms through the small window and he tries to steady her when she slides through on her side with her butt right in his face. Her frilly skirt pushes up by her movement and in risk of letting her fall he has no other alternative but to leave her one hand and catch her fall gripping her right butt cheek.

"You better keep your hands and eyes to yourself!" she yells as she tries to wiggle herself through the small space.

He rolls his eyes at her comment, "oh believe me, I'm trying to contain myself, especially with that wonderful _'flowery'_ toilet smell."

She finally gets her legs through the window and he helps her to her feet.

"Thank you." she says as he hands her back her shoes.

"Oliver." he introduces himself and reaches out his hand for her to shake.

"Felicity, with a ' _c_ '." she greets back shaking his hand.

"So, what brings you to a small country town like this?" he asks curiously, her accent intriguing him again.

"Well I'm busy with a project," she starts to explain and then he can see as she back pedals, "not that it is any of your business." she finishes. "Thank you for your help." she greets and walks around the building shouting at the gas attendant sitting in front of the shop door playing on his phone.

He shakes his head and chuckles when he walks into the shop to pay. What a welcome to Oudtshoorn!

He's well on his way on the highway when he hears the car make strange noises. He isn't that familiar with these types of trucks but he knows those sounds aren't good. He decides to pull over to the side of the road before the unimaginable happens.

Like any man worth his salt he pulls the cap and opens the hood. He can't see anything out of place. He starts to pull and shake the front of the truck and the next moment there's an explosion. He's covered in smoke and grease, including his very expensive Ray Ban sunglasses. He takes them off and finds his reflection in the front window of the Landie. His whole face is pitch black except for the area where his sunglasses protected his eyes.

He sighs. This is the last time he lets Brian make the car rental reservations.

He's in the middle of nowhere. His phone has no signal. How is he going to get home or even get help?

A miracle happens when he spots a car approaching him and he tries to flag them down. He almost stands in the middle of the road but the car isn't even remotely slowing down. He waits until the last minute and then jumps out of the way when the car almost hits him swerving from side to side.

Finally the car stops and none other than Felicity gets out of the car. She's furious as she stomps towards him with her phone in one hand.

"What the hell are you thinking?! I could have killed you!" she yells packs numerous punches against his shoulder.

"Well maybe if you paid attention to where you were driving we wouldn't be having this conversation!" he yells back trying to fend off her punches.

She finally stops, breathing heavily, the anger clearly not gone yet, but she controls her tone, "what are you doing on the side of the road?"

"My car broke down okay and I don't have any signal to call for a tow in." he explains.

She checks her phone and shrugs her shoulders, "well I can't help you there." and starts walking back towards her car.

"Wow! Very nice coming from you since I literally just saved your butt!"

Her face spells out immediate regret, "look it's not that I don't **_want_** to help you, I **_can't_** help you. I've never towed anyone before and if **_you_** don't have signal what makes you think that **_I_** do?"

"I have everything we need to tow in the truck and you don't have to do anything. Please I really could use your help." he pleads.

She eventually relents and he starts to hook up the Landie to her mini cooper.

"Your accent," he says making sure the rope is securely fastened, "it sounds American."

"I'm from Boston." she answers when he helps her into his Landie, but it seems that's all he'll be getting from her today. She doesn't elaborate.

He explains to her what she needs to do during the towing and gets into her car in the front, opening the window.

He's been all over the world, but the strangeness of driving on the left side of the road, almost all vehicles being stick shifts, will never get old.

He pulls onto the highway and laughs when he hears her yelling at him, "not so fast!"

Welcome to South Africa!


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

"I hope you didn't wait too long." Dig apologises driving into the parking lot of the auto mechanic where he finds an angry Oliver.

"Let's just say that Brian better hope I have cooled down by the time his plane arrives." he gets in Dig's car and sighs when they finally pull up on the highway on their way home.

"So who is this lady that helped tow in your car?"

"Lady?" he gives a sarcastic snort. "She might be a woman but let me tell you she's definitely no lady. She nearly ran me over!"

Oliver can see how Dig bites his lip not to laugh out loud. He is beyond frustrated and definitely not happy about how events unfolded on their first official day in South Africa. He's really had a tough couple of weeks and this might just push him over the edge. He makes a note to stay away from his team tonight, just to cool off and find perspective otherwise this trip might end before it begins.

"How about you tell me slowly what happened?" Dig's voice is calm and Oliver knows his friend is just trying to help, he's just not sure if telling him the story from the top will have a calming effect on his already sky high frustration levels.

He tries to take a deep breath, closes his eyes and slowly starts with his arrival at the gas station.

Dig drives onto the gravel road and stops at the parking bay of the farm house. This whole farm and the buildings remind him of photos he's seen of the pilgrim era. It's a breathtaking view with the green lawns and trees and of course the mountains just make it extra beautiful. He quickly becomes conscious of his whereabouts when he hears a still hysterical Dig laughing.

"I wish I was there to film you helping her out of that window man. That would have made us a lot of money."

"Very funny! I'm telling you it's definitely not as funny when you're the person standing with a woman's butt right in your face." he explains reenacting how the events went down, but it just adds fuel to the fire and makes Dig laugh more.

He shakes his head at his friend leaving him to catch his breath and walks towards the entrance of the farm house. He stops when he almost reaches the door and sees Heather, the only woman on their team, in a blowup ostrich tube floating in a canvas swimming pool on the farm's lawn sipping on what looks like a cocktail.

"Hi Oliver!" she calls and waves from the pool, but the movement throws her over the edge of the pool and within moments the whole pool collapses pushing her out on the lawn and a flood of water rushes over her and her ostrich tube now stuck around her waist.

Dig finally catches up with Oliver staring at what's unfolding on the lawn. They both try very hard not to laugh, but they fail miserably, leaving Heather and her ostrich friend soaking on the lawn.

"Thanks for the help boys!" she sarcastically yells from lying on her belly when they decide to retreat into the farm house.

Oliver wakes up to the sound of his alarm. The sun is already streaming into his bedroom and the fresh air seeping through his window gives him the strength he needs to take on this day.

Once he finishes getting ready he heads towards the kitchen where he can hear the bustling of plates and cutlery. He peeps around the door frame before he attempts to walk into the kitchen. Once he's satisfied that no one is going to murder him with a pan, especially Heather, he enters.

"Good morning all." he greets high fiving Dig and then is greeted by a cold stare from Heather. He probably deserves it, but she's never really been all that helpful in his eyes, and since he decided on his new motto after Laurel, _I'll scratch your back_ _ **only**_ _if you scratch mine,_ Heather….well they are not really on a back scratching basis.

He takes a look at the kitchen counter and it looks like Heather murdered the whole farm's chicken eggs. Egg shells are scattered all over the counter as far as the eye can see, but he doesn't dare say anything. Not if he doesn't want a frying pan against his head.

"Some eggs for you Oliver?" she asks sweetly but he knows better, she's busy plotting.

"Sure." he answers and takes a plate holding it out to her to dish up the scrambled eggs from the pan on the stove.

However he gets more eggs than he will ever be able to eat in his lifetime. She keeps dishing until there's no more space on his plate and then Dig adds two pieces of toast and throws it on top of the pile of scrambled eggs.

He bites his tongue and sits next to Dig who seems very amused by the situation hands him the tub of margarine to butter his toast. He picks the pieces of bread up and starts to butter it in the air since he has nowhere else to put it.

He knows he'll have to work on his irritation levels and this isn't helping so he decides to just suck it up and start talking about why they are here in the first place.

"So what exactly are we doing today?" he asks taking a bite of the buttered toast.

"We need to scout the area and have a look at the venue where we'll be shooting material from the gala dinner for the sustainable development conference on Friday. I think it's called the * _Swartberg_ , he tries to pronounce the word typed out on the file in front of him, Country Manor. Once that is done then we can concentrate on all the other projects in the area."

"I'm happy at least one of us is busy learning the native language here in the country side."

"It's called Afrikaans man! You need to get your butt into gear and learn a few words too. Most of the people in this area are Afrikaans speaking, so if we show a little initiative we might be able to get a bit more information out of them, you know for a successful documentary." he glares at Oliver who in return smiles and takes another bite of the toast.

"While you're busy sweet talking them Dig, can you please organise me some brooms and insect repellent or something that kills stuff, because the size of those cockroaches I saw last night makes me think they might be some evil elf's love child!" Heather dramatically explains and Oliver merely rolls his eyes.

"We have to go pick up my truck." Oliver remarks placing his plate in the sink, but is ambushed when Brian enters the kitchen and pinches his butt.

"Hey buddy!" he excitedly greets. Confusion decorates Oliver's face when he sees Brian is wearing a neck brace. He wants to ask for an explanation, but then thinks better of it when he reads Dig's body language to stay as far away from the topic as possible.

Without a word Brian leaves the kitchen and both Dig and Oliver look at Heather for an explanation.

"I don't know all the details okay. All I know is that he did a freelance job for Reuters in Afghanistan and…."

She stops mid-sentence when Brian rushes into the kitchen again and stops behind Dig. He cups Dig's head and kisses him on the crown of his head, taking a big whiff of his hair.

"You my friend, smell so good." he says and closes his eyes.

Once he opens them again he looks directly at Oliver. The stare makes Oliver's skin crawl. Brian's behaviour is borderline psycho.

"And you," he points at Oliver, "look really good. I guess marriage suits you well. Congratulations on your nuptials by the way. I'm sorry I missed the wedding." he points at his neck brace, "as you can see I have a good explanation. I was feeding bears in a zoo….which I probably shouldn't have." he laughs at his own joke, but everyone else just stares in shock at whatever is playing off in front of them.

When no one reacts Brian walks over to the kitchen counter and pops an egg shell in his mouth nearly swallowing it whole. He then continues by picking up an empty blender standing on the counter clutching it under his one arm and with his free hand picks up the frying pan with the left over scrambled eggs from the stove. He doesn't acknowledge anyone and leaves exactly as he entered, like a tornado.

The three remaining team members stare in disbelief when he leaves the kitchen. Oliver can feel the goose bumps of disgust start to form on his body just thinking what Brian may be up to. It takes a while for everyone to come back to reality, each one concocting their own horrible picture in their mind.

Oliver is the first one to break the silence, questioningly staring at Dig. "Care to tell me why you didn't tell him I didn't get married?"

"Oliver I couldn't tell him everything."

"Well that's clear!" Oliver sarcastically answers grabbing his phone and heads out the door, followed by Dig, once again leaving an upset Heather to clean up after them.

 _*Swartberg directly translated from Afrikaans to English - Black Mountain_


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

After the morning's disaster breakfast he's happy to at least have his wheels back again. Having to look into Dig's eyes to drive him around is definitely not his idea of independence, especially with his current mental state and bruised ego after Laurel. He decides to drive over to the only supermarket in the small town. They have everything you can think of, from hardware to food and right now he just needs to check up on the latest gossip magazine to see what kind of nonsense they are spouting about his foiled wedding to Laurel. He has no other choice but to go old school, since the internet connection in this little town is almost non existent.

Without even having to wonder which magazine to take his face is plastered on the front page of _People_ magazine and his chest tightens. He picks up the book and reads the heading ' _Queen Wedding Bust'_. Right on the nose, at least they weren't wrong with that headline, it **_was_** a bust.

He opens the magazine and pages to the article and feels quite shocked to see stolen paparazzi pictures of him in Cancun. For the first time he sees what he looked like while he was there. Granted he was a mess….he was just left at the altar after all and for his best friend! Of course he looked terrible, but maybe that was all for the best. Better it happened before the wedding than after and if she did it once, what would keep her from doing it again? He would always have wondered about her faithfulness and what kind of marriage would that have been?

His reasoning with himself is interrupted with a loud bang. He immediately turns his attention in the direction of the sound and sees a woman scurrying around on the floor trying to pick up the items she knocked over from what seems to be a display stand.

Having had enough of his failed love life and his miserable heartache he puts the magazine down to offer the distraught woman some assistance. He soon reaches the mess, but when he bends down to help pick up the little boxes sown over the floor he meets the familiar eyes of his ' _bathroom damsel_ '.

"Ah, Felicity with a ' _c_ '." he jokingly greets.

"Oliver, with an ' _o_ '." she answers back annoyed, clearly not happy to see him again.

He completely ignores the annoyance displayed all over her face and decides to milk this perfect opportunity. Just from the few times he's seen her, he actually enjoys irritating her, because he clearly has some kind of effect on her, which is already present. She's all flustered, her forehead is creased, her mouth is pouted and her cheeks are a brilliant shade of red.

He sways back and forth with his hands firmly tucked into his pants pockets as he observes her reaction. "So, what are you doing here?" he asks knowing she's going to give him some kind of sarcastic answer since there's really not much to do in this little town or any other place she can go to buy whatever she needs.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I came to get a few necessities." she answers calmly, much to his surprise and continues to pick up the boxes she knocked off the stand.

"Well, I'm very happy you're setting such a fine example by being so responsible." he bends down and picks up a hand full of the little boxes from the floor, carefully adding them to the pile she's holding in her arms.

A look of confusion now replaces the annoyance from earlier and once she looks down at what she's holding his words suddenly dawn on her….she's holding arms full of condom boxes!

Without thinking twice she throws them back on the floor. The beautiful blush turns into something more drastic and he has to stifle his laugh, because this just made his day.

"It…it's not what you think." she tries to explain.

"There's no need to explain. You have needs, I get it, but at least you're doing the right thing. Necessities indeed." he continues the teasing, "looks like you have a busy weekend ahead."

She's just about to answer him when they are interrupted by a store attendant handing Felicity a box filled with toothbrushes and toothpaste. Felicity thanks the attendant and smiles and it's the first time he sees her smile.

His mind wants to analyse why his heart suddenly skipped a beat at the sight of a smile from a woman who has only shown him contempt. He ignores the feeling though and focuses his attention back on the box of toothbrushes she's holding.

"Wow, toothbrushes, toothpaste and condoms….I've heard a lot of funny things in my life before but this jus…."

"It's for children!" she sharply interrupts him.

"Condoms for kids?" he questions seriously. He knows he's pushing towards a line he might not be able to get back from. If she throws something at his head today it will only be of his own doing.

"No!" she starts to raise her voice, "the toothbrushes and toothpaste are for the kids."

He nods in understanding and then looks back at the box again. He's going to see how far he can take this. "You have a lot of kids." he states as-a-matter-of-factly.

She sighs and closes her eyes. She's clearly trying to keep her cool.

"They are not my own kids, although it sometimes feels like they are and with this project I'm busy with….3,2,1." she stops herself from disclosing any further information. "Look Oliver, I don't have time for childish games." she gives him a curt nod and turns to walk away.

Just as she starts to walk she bumps into another man. He's tall and has dark hair, but it seems like they know each other.

"Hey!" the man greets and places a kiss on her lips.

She smiles, but this smile is different from the one she gave the store attendant a few moments ago. There's no sparkle in her eyes. Why is he so focused on this subject?

He carefully inspects the interaction between Felicity and this man and she seems extremely uncomfortable. She adjusts the box in her arms and then he sees it….she's wearing a diamond ring on her left hand. She's either married or engaged.

"What are you doing here?" she asks the man with a change in her voice. She's trying very hard to seem happy and surprised by this man's unexpected arrival.

"I saw your car outside and thought I would surprise you." the man answers but he doesn't make eye contact with her. His attention is now solely on the small boxes inside of the box Felicity is holding, taking one of them out to take a closer look.

"So….what are you busy with?" he asks suspiciously, alternating glances between the box, Felicity and Oliver, which obviously makes Oliver feel tremendously out of place.

Felicity looks like she wants to die of embarrassment, but musters up enough courage to break the awkward silence.

"Ray, this is Oliver." she gestures to Oliver, "and Oliver this is my fiancé Ray." she gestures to Ray.

Oliver stretches out his hand towards Ray and in return Ray places the condom box in Oliver's hand, giving him a guarded look.

Ray turns towards Felicity, kisses her cheek, "I'll see you at home then." and walks away without acknowledging Oliver again.

The blush from her cheeks is all gone now and he wishes he could turn back the clock where he could see her smile. She looks emotionally drained after that little meeting and he knows he should leave her alone now.

"I'll see you around Felicity." he greets, putting the box of condoms back in her box and walks away leaving her standing like a frozen sculpture clinging to her box.

" ** _That_** , was just weird." he mumbles to himself, trying his best not to look back at her.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

She makes her way across the paved halls, filled with the chitter chatter of high school students. She has a math class in a few minutes and just enough time to get from the parking area to her class room.

Deep in thought about the math lesson awaiting her she nearly bumps into Anna, a pure Afrikaans red head heading in the opposite direction.

"Oops! I'm so sorry Anna, I didn't see you there." Felicity apologises missing Anna by mere centimeters.

"Lis! How good to see you! And no worries there girl, I guess when you're looking so under the weather you're bound to bump into someone at some point right?" she answers with her fine high pitched voice.

"Under the weather? Sorry I don't quite understand what you mean?"

"Yes! With the school, your big project, the wedding arrangements you know, I can imagine it's just so much for you to handle. Please just don't buckle under the pressure okay?"

Felicity is not sure if Anna is sarcastic or not, but she smiles nevertheless. "I assure you everything is under control, thank you for your concern Anna."

"Any time Lis, absolutely **_any_** time!"

They head in their various directions again when Anna calls her name again.

"Oh Lis! I still wanted to say that I absolutely adore the top you're wearing today. It was sooo cute when it was still in fashion." she winks at Felicity, who in return is trying her hardest to keep her facial expression neutral. "Kiss kiss!" Anna sings in greeting and walks away.

It doesn't happen much but she's completely speechless. She has no idea what this woman's problem is with her. It's not like she's competing for any special attention from the school board and even if she was, their fields are light years apart.

She shakes her head and resumes her route to her class room.

She's just in time as the bell rings indicating the end of break and as the students start piling into the room she readies herself for the lesson.

"Good morning everyone, please settle down and take out your assignments from yesterday, so we can quickly run through the answers before today's lesson."

She starts opening her notebook when she notices one of the students approaching her desk in the corner of her eye.

"What's your excuse this time Norman?" she asks still going through some notes. "You should be very worried, because I'm starting to wonder that your dog's diet consists only of homework." she looks up at Norman suddenly blushing. "Come on, out with it." she prompts.

"Well Miss Felicity, you see, the weather was absolutely amazing and it was also the last weekend before our neighbours' granddaughters had to go back to Namibia, so there was absolutely no time for homework."

Felicity is positively shocked by the truthful admission from the boy standing in front of her and she tries her best to hide her smile.

"Please Miss Felicity, I'm sure a pretty lady such as yourself will appreciate that I had a real predicament this weekend."

"Careful young man, she's taken."

She turns her attention towards the sound of the voice when Norman's blushed face turns as white as a sheet. Ray enters with a smug smile on his face, but playfully winks at Felicity who is clearly surprised by his presence.

"You're here!" Felicity hugs Ray, not sure if she should be happy about this sudden drop in.

"Yes, and just in time it seems. Maybe I should buy a shotgun? First the strange man in the supermarket and now the kid? Do I have something to be worried about? Are you trying to tell me I have competition?" he asks jokingly.

"No honey, nothing to be worried about." she pats him on his chest.

"Well wonderful then." he leans down to kiss her, but the moment the kids start cheering she pushes him away with a warning look.

"Okay okay, I just wanted to make sure you're not working yourself too hard."

Does she really look that bad? What is it with everyone thinking she's overexerting herself?

"I'm fine honey, I promise." she turns toward her desk and picks up the box with the toothpaste and toothbrushes she got at the supermarket and hands it to him. "But, if you really want to help, you can put this box with the rest of the supplies please."

She laughs when he pouts his lips like a two year old. "Come on, off you go. I'll see you in a bit."

"Fine, saving the world one toddler at a time." he whines while he kisses her cheek and then leaves with the box.

"Is this really necessary?" he complains when they enter the driveway of the Swartberg Manor.

"Yes Ray you know it is. I promise I'll be quick okay?" she squeezes his hand before getting out of the car.

"Yes yes, now hurry up!" he rushes her, but she laughs it off, not entirely sure if he means it to be a joke or not.

She heads towards the main entrance feeling her heartbeat increasing. She hates playing referee between her fiancé and her family, it's exhausting. Maybe that's the reason Anna thought she looked worn out.

Once she reaches the patio in front of the entrance she hears what sounds like 50's music playing. Curiously she enters and finds her sister in a typical black 50's dress completed with gloves and a shawl, draped with black pearls around her neck, a red feather in her hair and a cigarette holder between her fingers.

"And what's this?" she questions looking around the foyer, "Halloween is still months away."

Her sister rolls her eyes at the quip. "Mom had this brilliant idea to have a ' _Breakfast at Tiffany's_ ' theme for our guests. She's busy preparing the food as we speak."

"Breakfast? It's nearly dinner time!"

"Dinner shwimmer. This breakfast will kick any dinner's ass."

Felicity laughs and then looks behind her when Caitlin's eyes keep reverting back to the door.

"Ray waiting in the car?"

"Yes he is." Felicity gives the short answer.

"Of course he is. It's utterly unfair to expect the ' _Ostrich Baron_ ' to mingle with the commoners."

"Caitlin! You can't really blame him after what you said."

"I only said he was a nice guy." she responds innocently, but Felicity gives her sister a knowing look.

"Okay, more like he has the potential to be one."

"Cait!"

"Whaaaaat? It was a compliment."

"I can promise you he didn't take it that way."

"I say it's misinterpretation. Now that's quite something when you have such a high IQ."

Felicity rolls her eyes and decides to immediately change the subject, "so is everything ready for the gala dinner? You still remember you promised to introduce me to the director of the Global Upliftment Fund?"

"Yes sis, I still remember, now will you please relax?"

Felicity is ready to continue the conversation and tell her sister to back off, when Julian enters the room. He has a mask covering his nose and mouth and he urgently makes his way over to the reception desk with a pack of wipes and more masks.

It's obvious that he wants Caitlin's attention but she completely ignores him. After a few seconds of awkward silence and glances he rings the reception bell.

"Caitlin?" he asks softly.

"Yes Julian?" she finally acknowledges him.

"You are aware that the people from the Global Upliftment Fund are here right?"

"Yes Julian, I am very well aware, everything is ready and no, I don't have amnesia." Caitlin answers snippy.

"It's just….there are a lot of people from other countries being represented here where personal hygiene is not a priority. So who knows what kind of germs or viruses will enter with them?"

Caitlin stares at him in disbelief.

"It is my duty as co-owner of this manor to inform you of the dangers that await us and kindly request that you wear one of these." he explains lifting up one of the sealed mask.

"Okay Julian, two questions….one, what on earth makes you think that, **_that_** thing," pointing to the mask in his hand, "will fit with my outfit? And two, have you ever wondered about the people who pack those masks? You know, the people who make the masks and put them into their boxes and so on? .Germs."

Julian stares at her with big worried eyes. He tries to answer, but he's stuck. Finally he throws the mask down on the counter and shivers as Caitlin's words sink in when he dramatically runs passed Felicity and out the door.

Felicity stifles her laugh, but when her eye catches the clock against the wall she realises she'll have to finish up her little pop in.

"Well that was fun, but I have to run. Ray's waiting for me, you know, dinner with my fiancé." she waves heading for the door.

"Enjoy your dinner Snob!" Caitlin jokingly yells after her.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

The silence is deafening….nothing but the clanging of the silverware against the fine porcelain as Felicity and Ray sit at the huge dining table.

"So, I'm going to * _Kalfieskraal_ tomorrow, the school was very kind to give me the day off." Felicity excitedly announces.

Ray slightly looks up, gives her a faint smile and focuses his attention back on his dinner.

"Ray?" she sighs, when she doesn't get any attention from her fiancé.

"I heard there are big names going to attend the gala dinner for the Global Upliftment Fund." he finally speaks.

"Yes!" she enthusiastically responds, "that's why Caitlin's going to introduce me so I can have a chance t….."

"You're not going to get any funding from them Felicity." he interrupts her. He doesn't look at her, still concentrating on the food left on his plate.

Felicity is beyond shocked at his revelation. She stops chewing for a moment and closes her eyes, hoping that the words Ray just uttered was either not heard correctly or not said at all.

"These people have much bigger things to worry about than your little project Felicity."

She bites her lip, trying to keep her disappointment and anger at bay.

"It's not a small project Ray!" she raises her voice and he finally looks at her. "You know all I need from you is support and you're doing a real lousy job to show it."

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but what kind of a fiancé would I be if I didn't tell it as it is?"

Felicity shakes her head in disbelieve and puts down her knife and fork. She's ready to throw down her napkin on the table and storm out when he starts talking again.

"You know what? I will give you a chance to say something at the opening of our new cellars. Maybe there will be someone there who will be willing to help you."

She can feel the anger dissipate, but it's short lived.

"Let me just tell you one more thing though. I don't think you're the only one with your eye on that piece of land so maybe you sh…." he picks up his phone at the sound of an incoming text alert, leaving her in suspense.

He laughs at whatever is displayed on his screen and completely ignores her. She feels her heart breaking at the intense feeling of abandonment and disappointment and excuses herself from the table, which he also ignores.

She's about half way to the door when she stops and turns around, taking a deep breath to build up enough courage to speak to him.

"Are you still helping out at _Kalfieskraal_ this weekend as you promised?" she holds her breath awaiting his answer.

"Yes, yes." he answers still engrossed in his phone, not seeing the stray tear making its way down her cheek as she leaves.

"Good morning children. Let's settle down please." Mrs Bruinders says, as the small children between the ages of two and eight years old scurry around to find a seat on the neon coloured carpet in the middle of the small class room.

"There we go, thank you." Mrs Bruinders continues. "Let's welcome Miss Felicity who is here today to teach us about our teeth."

"Yay!" the children cheer when Felicity moves closer to the seated children and starts passing out the toothbrushes and toothpaste between the children, instructing the older ones to help the little ones.

Felicity unwraps her own toothbrush and takes a seat on the small toddler plastic chair to be on the same level as the children seated on the carpet. "Okay everybody. Does everyone have a toothbrush?" she asks and they all respond in a chorus, "yes, Miss Felicity!"

"Good." she says and takes out the toothpaste. She shows them how to apply the toothpaste to the brushes of the toothbrush, and they all follow suit. "Now that everyone has a toothbrush with toothpaste, I'm going to show you how we brush our teeth." She takes her toothbrush and shows the children how they need to close their mouths and put their teeth together. "Then you put the toothbrush against your teeth and then we brush, up and down, and side to side." she instructs as the children follow the same actions.

They continue the same actions until she's satisfied with the outcome and she gets a thumbs up from Mrs Bruinders.

After a few moments and organising the children to put away their toothbrushes and toothpaste in their new allocated areas for future use, Felicity follows Mrs Bruinders to the small kitchen to make them each a cup of tea.

Felicity makes herself comfortable at the small round table situated in the middle of the kitchen and lets out a sigh she didn't even know she was holding, the moment Mrs Bruinders hands her the cup of tea.

"You did great Felicity. You can be very proud of yourself." Mrs Bruinders compliments.

"Thank you. It's such an enormous feeling of accomplishment working with these children; I can't describe how proud I am to be able to bring a little light into their lives. It's nowhere close to what **_you_** do, but I'm happy to help where I can."

"Speaking of help, is Ray coming to help over the weekend? It will be really good for him to see the impact you make on these children."

"Well, he said he wanted to, but he's very busy, so I'm not entirely sure if he's going to be able to find the time. I guess we'll have to wait and see right?" Felicity smiles, but it doesn't fool Mrs Bruinders, who watches her blonde colleague sceptically.

"I can't believe how cheap everything is here!" Dig exclaims excitedly as Oliver takes the turn onto the ** _Swartberg_ Manor road. "Maybe I should consider retiring here."

"Okay, let's focus on getting this job done and getting paid for it before considering retirement? What do you say?" Oliver sarcastically answers, parking the Landie.

"Fine! Why don't you off load all the equipment and I'll do my part and confirm everything with the manager." Dig rolls his eyes and leaves Oliver at the car, knowing his friend so very well….he'll probably be ranting to himself the whole time he has to unpack the equipment. The thought makes him snicker, but he doesn't dare turn around.

"Typical." Oliver mutters under his breath, "always leaves me with all the heavy lifting. I'm supposed to be in charge." he reluctantly continues to off load all the equipment out of the Landie. "And where the hell are my employees that I pay to do these kinds of things?" he continues to complain.

Diggle walks up the stairs and enters the double doors at the reception. He walks in very slowly when he sees a nerdy looking guy standing in the corner staring at the pretty young lady hanging Chinese lanterns and spraying them with what seems to be disinfectant. Diggle finds this quite amusing but things get even funnier when a tall blonde woman walks in and hits the nerdy guy with her dish cloth.

"What are you just standing around here for?" she laments while nerdy guy composes himself from his encounter with her dishcloth. He brushes off his clothes, not that there was anything to brush off of them to begin with and walks up to Diggle with a stern look on his face. This guy is seriously trying to impress someone, but the look on his face just wants to make Diggle laugh out loud.

Diggle stretches out his hand to introduce himself, when suddenly the nerdy guy takes out disinfectant spray and sprays it directly onto Diggle's hands.

He is so shocked by the action of this man he looks around the room questioningly when he sees the blonde woman nearly dying of embarrassment when she rushes over to the scene of the crime.

"I'm so sorry sir, I promise you it's not because you're black, it's because you're dirty." she tries to explain while Diggle tries his best not to burst out laughing. The woman looks like she's in pain when she realises what she actually just said and tries to rectify it. "Julian thinks we are all contaminated." she explains further and gives Julian a glare that could kill. "How may I help you?"

"Hi, I'm John Diggle, I'm actually just looking for the manager." Diggle replies, trying hard to compose himself and not laugh.

"Pleased to meet you Mr Diggle, I'm Donna and you must be looking for Caitlin." she points to the lady hanging the lanterns.

"Thank you Donna." he smiles, nods and walks over to Caitlin, hearing Donna whisper, "Julian, honey, you know love is a germ that cannot be killed with Dettol." and he hears her kiss him on the cheek.

This is going to be an interesting night.

 _*Kalfieskraal directly translated from Afrikaans to English – Calf's enclosure_

 _**Swartberg directly translated from Afrikaans to English - Black Mountain_


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

"Will you please slow down?" Heather whines as Oliver takes the turn onto the * _Swartberg_ Manor road.

"You're the one who took your time and now we're late, so stop whining." he bites back finally parking the Landie right next to Diggle tapping his foot against the ground and looking annoyed when he checks his watch for the umpteenth time.

"You guys are late!" he admonishes when they get out of the car.

"Not my fault!" Oliver throws his hands in the air, "Women!" he laments taking out a bag with spare cables just in case.

"Well maybe you should have washed that Jeep thing of yours before you let me get in, that way I didn't have to ruin my clothes for the evening on the dirt and had to change into something else."

"You're just jealous because my Landie is more of a lady than you Heather, so maybe you should keep your mouth shut huh?"

"What? You're a real jerk you know that Oliver?"

"You know what the best thing is about my Landie Heather? She doesn't talk back!" he yells following Diggle who then suddenly stops to sternly look at the two of them.

"When the two of you decide to behave like adults, maybe we can get on with our job?"

Neither of them answers, only Heather that crosses her arm and huffs her disapproval. Despite the discord they are all ears as Diggle gives them each their assignments for the night, they decide on a time to meet for their big interview for the documentary and they break.

"Heather," Oliver calls after her before she can reach the steps of the porch, "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk." he apologises.

"Look Oliver I get it okay. Laurel messed you up and I'm sure that you're definitely not very fond of our species right now, but I think it will do you well to realise that we're not all like her."

He nods in acknowledgement, "understood."

She turns towards the steps again. "Hey Heather?" she turns to face him again, "do me a favour okay? Don't let Brian near any alcohol tonight….or loud noises….or….in fact you know what, don't let Brian in the interview room at all."

"Gotcha boss." she smiles and heads in to join the party.

He's just about to head up the steps when Brian comes running past with another bag. Like some kind of ninja Oliver reaches out and stops the man before he can think of taking his next step.

"Brain," he warns, "you my friend need to take deep calculated breaths, we are not doing a documentary on marathons okay?"

"Yes, yes, yes." Brian chants and once Oliver is happy that the man has calmed down he releases him into the gala.

The gala is in full swing. It's a beautiful sight of Chinese lanterns and fairy lights all over the manor. Add a glass of red wine to the mix and you have yourself the most romantic setting.

"Welcome, welcome." Caitlin gracefully greets her sister and Ray when they arrive. She tries to stay her bold charming self, which is until Ray has the audacity to kiss her on the cheek. It's not just any kiss, he goes out of his way to embed his lips almost through her cheek into her gums and it irritates her so much she wants to punch his smug smile from his face when he excuses himself to go mingle.

One look from her sister and she decides to behave. This is definitely going onto the looooong list of ' _why I hate Ray Palmer'_.

Felicity chuckles when she spots Julian prancing around with disinfectant in a can between the guests.

"Felicity honey! I'm so happy you're here." Donna greets her daughter. "Why are you laughing?"

Felicity only points in Julian's direction and Donna nearly has a heart attack. She quickly picks up one of the platters of food that haven't been placed on the main table and takes it to Julian to at least get him to do something else instead of spraying their guests with disinfectant.

"Don't laugh. He's making me old before my time." she laments. "Speaking of youth….I can't wait to see you in your dress. You're going to be a knockout tonight hon."

"Thanks mom." Felicity blushes barely hearing Julian mumble, "But not as beautiful as your sister." on his way to take more platters to the main table.

"Mom, is there a room available that I can get dressed in?" Felicity asks, shaking her head about Julian's comment.

"Yes honey, the first room on the left is unoccupied."

Felicity gives her mom a quick kiss on the cheek and heads toward the room. She has to make a good impression tonight. The children are depending on her.

"Heather, I thought I told you to keep an eye on Brian." Oliver scream whispers when he sees Brian down the one glass of wine after the other.

"I am!"

"Okay, so if you are, why the heck does he have a glass of wine is his hands?"

Heather rolls her eyes and attempts to walk over to Brian, but Oliver beats her to it.

"Brian, how many of these have you had buddy?"

"Ohhhhhhh…I'd saaaaaaay about ten I think." he laughs, swaying around barely staying upright holding on to one of the pillars on the porch.

"I think you've had enough okay." Oliver takes the glass of wine out of his hands and hands it to one of the passing waiters.

"Heather, please get Brian here a cup of co…"

"Shhhhhhhhhh!" Brian whispers placing his whole hand over Oliver's mouth.

Great! A drunk crew member. Exactly what he needs tonight!

Why does he keep on paying these people when he still needs to do all the work?

Felicity gets out of the shower. She feels refreshed and ready for what she needs to do tonight. She dries herself off and starts applying body lotion when she hears her bedroom door open.

She stops everything she's doing immediately and listens for more sounds. After about a minute she doesn't hear anything else and ignores it, thinking it only to be the room next door.

She continues applying the body lotion and when she's done with her whole body she wraps the towel around her and heads out of the en-suite into the bedroom to get dressed.

She opens the door but in the process knocks someone behind the door over the chair against the wall, who is now lying on the floor.

Instantly she goes into survival mode against this pervert in her room and she grabs the nearest object, which turns out to be a huge umbrella. She starts hitting him while he tries to scoot away on his butt on the carpet. He doesn't get very far because his jeans are like Velcro on the carpet and he's stuck trying to fend off the umbrella.

It brings back nasty flash backs of the first day Oliver met Felicity and she hit him like that on the side of the road after jumping in front of her car trying to get help for his broken Landie.

After shouting that she should stop, Felicity realises that the intruder is Oliver, but she's not happy at all.

"Why are you in my room?!"

"Are you following me?!"

After each question she gets ready to hit him again and his body is ready to duck and fend off his arch nemesis….the umbrella.

"I should have known!" she shouts, earning a frown from him on the floor. "An attractive American in South Africa is looking for trouble and then of course he turns out to be a sick pervert!" she resumes at hitting him with every word.

He finally gets loose from the carpet and attempts to get away from the umbrella and jump up, but she pins him to the floor with the tip of the umbrella.

"Make one more move jerkwad and I'll make a kebab out of you!" she warns.

Oliver lifts his hands in surrender. "Look Felicity, I just want to get up okay. I'm going to do it slowly so there's no need for anyone to get hurt." he tries to negotiate and she takes a small step back giving room to move but she still has the tip of the umbrella fixed on him in case he tries anything.

"Listen carefully Felicity, this isn't what you think okay," he tries to explain with his hands still in the air as a form of surrender, "I am part of the filming crew here tonight and this is the room where we put all our equipment to set up for the interview later for our documentary."

He moves slightly to the left of the room towards a huge black bag, "See? Sound equipment."

She looks a bit more at ease but she still points the umbrella to him.

"I'm not following you okay."

"Okay." she says slowly, not taking her eyes off him for a second. "You better go before Ray catches you in this room with me."

"Oh yes Ray." he acknowledges. "Now who can forget Ray? Isn't he the guy who's standing outside like a rooster trying to look intimidating?" he teases and she rolls her eyes.

"Whatever Oliver, it's time to go. Goodbye." she says giving him room to open the door, still holding the umbrella to shield herself in case he decides to go for round two.

He's about half way out the door when he turns back and looks her straight in the eyes, "you think I'm attractive?"

She's caught completely off guard, the heat of his stare making her gulp, "what?!"

"You just said I was…." he starts explaining when she pushes him out the door.

"Goodbye Oliver." she yells and immediately locks the door. She leans her back against the door trying to catch her breath, the umbrella limply hanging from her hands. Her cheeks are flushed and she has a huge smile on her face.

"Idiot!" she mumbles moving away from the door to finish getting ready.

 _**Swartberg directly translated from Afrikaans to English - Black Mountain_


End file.
